What’s the difference between sino and más bien, and why are they used together?

Good question!

Let’s answer it by taking out the pieces, studying them in isolation and putting them back together again. Starting with sino.

{Negative statement}, sino {alternative}

The first thing you need to know about sino is that it brings along a hint of formality–you probably wouldn’t use it to pick a fight at a dive bar, but it would be very appropriate when trying to convince a police officer that you’re not guilty:

In these cases, sino is optionally followed by también or además (too, also, as well)

Bonus 3: pero

What’s this island doing here?

Well, you might have noticed that I have stubbornly avoided translating sino as but. I’ve done this to minimize the chances that you’ll confuse sino with pero, but in case you do, remember that but is only pero if you can replace it with although:

Since you speak English, you actually have a leg up on the natives: if it makes sense to stick an if… not in place of si no leave a space; otherwise, use sino.

In case you’re wondering, natives use a different trick: if it feels right to add a subject between si and no, leave a space; otherwise, don’t.

That’s enough exploring for one day. Time to sail back home.

Spanish takeaways

Leather With Wallet Black Gift Mens Leather Emporium Emporium Box Leather Sino is a mildly formal but elegant way to provide a non-obvious alternative to a negative statement, without having to start a new sentence.

If the alternative contains a conjugated verb (any verb except a to-verb or a -ing verb), we use sino que instead of sino.